Over the course of the Zelda games, the world (kingdom?) of Hyrule has evolved alongside the graphics and sound. With each new game, we learn a little more about the creatures that inhabit the world and their evolution. Luckily, Nintendo has named the various creatures in (largely) logical ways that allow one to make sense of them. There are divisions, however, between ceremonial titles (marking the divisions in Ganon’s armies) and names that refer to different species. Let’s look at some of the more common nomenclature:

Arm – The prefix “arm” refers to armour, as seen on a number of different creatures, such as Armos, Armos Knights and Armagohma. Similar to the prefix “Helm.”

Baba – This term refers to any hostile plant life. Examples include Boko Babas and the monstrous Diababa.

Blin – This suffix identifies any creatures that could be classified as a goblin. Perhaps most famously seen in the dog and pig-like Moblins.

Boko – A catch-all prefix for items and creatures that originate in the forest. It is believed by some to have simply replaced the term “deku.” Examples include Bokoblins, Boko Sticks and Boko Babas.

Deku – See Boko. It is possible that Boko could cover all forest life and items while Deku refers to those from a specific forest. Famous examples include Deku Scrubs, the Deku Shield and the Great Deku Tree.

Fos – The suffix “fos” indicates a humanoid. The suffix appears on any number of foes that stand on two legs and are trained for melee combat: Stalfos, Aeralfos, Lizalfos, Wolfos.

Geld – Complicated due to translation from Japanese, the prefix “geld” actually denotes a connection to the Gerudo. Regardless, in practicality, “geld” is used to identify desert creatures like the cactus/insect hybrid Geldarm and the sand golem Geldman.

Gohma – Gohmas are crab/spider/scorpion-like creatures. They generally have a single eye as their weak point. Gohmas tend to serve as bosses, such as Armagohma and Queen Gohma.

Helm – Much like “arm,” the “helm” prefix refers to helmets. Many creatures in Ganon’s armies feature a helmet and no other armour either due to a massive head (Helmasaurs, the Helmasaur King) or due to the fact that full armour would limit their mobility (the Helmaroc King)

Mol – One of the more straightforward terms, “mol” refers to any creature that would thrive underground, like a mole. Some are centipede-like, others are more like worms. Link to the Past’s Moldorms are never seen burrowed into the ground, but logically, Ganon may have placed them into such unnatural places as dungeons and towers to keep them in an aggressive, uncomfortable state of mind. Examples include Moldorms, Lanmolas and the bosses Twinmold and Molgera.

Os (Mos) – This suffix indicates a mechanical device that fulfills a sentry role. This is primarily seen in the Armos, which according to some sources are simply suits of armour animated through magic. The Minish Cap implies that they are mechanical in nature, however. The suffix is also seen in the Beamos, which are sentries that fire lasers.

Roc (Rok) – Based on the mythical Roc, creatures with this suffix are giant birds. Examples include Argorok, Kargorok and the Helmaroc King.

So, knowing these terms we can not only figure out the specifics of enemies like Armagohma (an armoured member of the Gohma species), but we can also imagine new creatures that may appear in future installments. For example, a Stalrok would be a skeletal bird while a Helmos would be some sort of sentry drone that is protected by a helmet.

Although these terms can be very useful in putting together all the connections between different creatures and enemies, not all of them fall under this scheme. Kalle Demos, for example, is the name of the plant monster at the end of the Forbidden Woods in the Wind Waker, but his name features neither Baba (“violent plant”) nor Boko (“from the forest”). There could be a specific reason for this (Kalle Demos could be a parasitic entity that’s controlling the plant life) or it could just be for more practical reasons (there is already a much more common violent plant creature called the Boko Baba). Another oddity is the term Gyorg, which generally describes shark-like enemies but in one case describes a manta ray that flies and is never seen anywhere near water.

There are also direct exceptions. Octoroks have no connection to the mythical birds. Their name is simply a rather cute reference to the fact that they look like octopi and spit rocks. This and other anomalies like it generally have logical explanations though. Octoroks first appeared in the original Legend of Zelda, long before bird enemies became common.

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